The uptick in smartphone sales didn't come as a complete surprise. Supplies of the flagship Nokia Lumia 920 began to run low as early as late November on AT&T and Amazon.com's websites.

But Nokia is being cautious about the holiday results and warned investors not to expect the same type of results in the first quarter of 2013.

"Seasonality and competitive environment are expected to have a negative impact on the first quarter 2013, underlying profitability for devices and services, compared to the fourth quarter 2012," Nokia said in a statement sent Thursday.

For now, though, the Finnish phone giant is still showing signs of life.